Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts

WORK SAFETY ACT 2008 (NO. 51 OF 2008) - SECT 35

    (1)     This section applies if, in a prosecution for an offence for a failure to comply with a safety duty, the trier of fact—

        (a)     is not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offence; but

        (b)     is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of an alternative offence.

    (2)     The trier of fact may find the defendant guilty of the alternative offence, but only if the defendant has been given procedural fairness in relation to the finding of guilt.

    (3)     In this section:

"alternative offence", for an offence against a provision mentioned in an item in table 33, column 2, means an offence against a provision mentioned in the item, column 3.

Table 33     Alternative verdicts

column 1 item	column 2 prosecuted offence	column 3 alternative offence
1	s 31 (Failure to comply with safety duty—negligent exposure to substantial risk of serious harm)	s 30 (Failure to comply with safety duty—general)
2	s 32 (Failure to comply with safety duty—reckless exposure to substantial risk of serious harm)	s 30 s 31
3	s 33 (Failure to comply with safety duty—negligently cause serious harm)	s 30 s 31 s 32
4	s 34 (Failure to comply with safety duty—recklessly cause serious harm)	s 30 s 31 s 32 s 33